Moshe Yechiel Epstein

Moshe Yechiel Epstein was born in 1889 in Poland

Moshe Yechiel Epstein was born in Poland on 29 December 1889. His father was the Rebbe Avraham Shlomo, and he studied as a child with his father and his grandfather, the Rebbe Aryeh Leib. His mother's father was Rebbe Chaim Shmuel of Chentshin.

At 22 he became rabbi of Ozherov. In 1920 he traveled to America with an Agudat Yisrael delegation to raise money for Jewish refugees in Poland. In 1926 he moved his Hasidic court to New York City, living first on the Lower East Side and later in the Bronx.

His family in Europe was killed in the Holocaust. After the war, the remaining Chentshin Hasidim took him as their leader, and he became Grand Rabbi of Ozherov-Chentshin.

He moved to Israel, settled in Tel Aviv and lived there for the rest of his life. He wrote the Torah commentary series Eish Dos and Be'er Moshe. In 1967 he was elected chairman of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudat Yisrael, and he campaigned against public Sabbath desecration.

He died in 1971 and was buried in Bnei Brak. His grandson, Tanchum Becker, succeeded him as Rebbe.